1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system for identifying thread spools on an embroidery machine. Specifically, the invention relates to a system using patterned labels to electronically identify the thread types loaded on various spindles of an automated embroidery machine.
2. Prior Art
Stitching machines capable of stitching or embroidering complex patterns into garments or fabric using multiple colors are common in the garment personalization industry. Typical embroidery machines have several needles, each threaded with a different type of thread. A pattern often requires threads having different colors, thicknesses and compositions. A skilled artisan of embroidery will appreciate that a nimiety of different thread types are used for stitching embroidery patterns. Furthermore, each thread manufacturer's product differs. These distinctions can be significant, even though the thread is ostensibly of the same type, thickness and material. It is therefore important in the stitching industry to identify thread types according to a variety of thread identifying characteristics, or thread data, including, but not limited to, material composition, thickness, color, manufacture, amount of thread on the spool, tensile strength, and other factors by which an embroiderer may wish to distinguish threads.
Stitching and embroidery machines are commonly controlled by a computer system. The computer system converts an embroidery pattern into a series of stitch commands directing the various needles, each fed by a different thread spool, to form the pattern given. Typically, thread data for particular threads and the needle to which they are connected are manually entered into the operating software by the user.
Manually entering the thread data including thread material, thickness, color, manufacturer and other parameters is time consuming. In particular, in an embroidery machine having several needles each fed by a corresponding thread spool, the amount of data inputted into the computer system becomes large. The data entry of a large amount of relatively tedious data is also conducive to human error which can lead to expensive, easily avoidable mistakes downstream in the embroidery process. It would therefore be beneficial to provide a means to for the computer system that operates an embroidery machine to be provided thread data accurately, quickly, and automatically.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,055,443 to Goto et al. discloses a method for identifying the color of a thread loaded on an embroidery machine. This method uses a reflected beam of light to determine the color of a thread fed to a needle on the machine. The Goto patent uses a photoelectric emitter and receiver system for identifying thread color directly. The optical reading mechanism that determines the color of a thread may be used to provide or confirm information to a computer system regarding the color of thread on a particular needle. However, this system does not provide any information about the composition, thickness or other thread data.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,228,195 to Hagino discloses an embroidery machine and system for identifying the characteristics of a thread loaded onto a spindle of an embroidery machine. The system utilizes a wireless tag located on the thread reel. A receiver on the embroidery machine reads information from the wireless tag by means of an electromagnetic signal. This information may be directly provided electronically to the computer system controlling the embroidery machine.
This patent discloses a method of storing thread data encoded in a wireless tag. Use of such tags is only practical when wireless tags and code patterns are ubiquitously adopted throughout the embroidery industry. Otherwise, different manufacturers may use the same wireless signals to identify different types of threads. In addition, the only information encoded on the wireless tag will be that which the manufacturer chooses to include. The operator of an embroidery system, that is, the end user who benefits from and utilizes the identifying tag, has no control over the information stored on the reel.
It would be preferable for the end user, the machine operator, to be able to print off a label having the desired information for a thread spool and readable by a computer detector or sensor. However, thread spools are circular and do not have classical front, back and sides. Therefore, any label on a spool would have to be carefully rotationally aligned with a label reader about a stand rod or spindle on the thread tree base.
It would therefore be beneficial to provide a means for a computer system that operates an embroidery machine to be provided thread data automatically by a label on the thread spool.
It is also desirable to provide a label for a thread spool that provides thread identifying data directly to an embroidery machine computer system.
It is also desirable to provide a label for providing thread identifying data directly to an embroidery machine computer system that allows the end user to determine the information stored on the label.